The 2007 Tour de France has come and gone but you wouldn’t even know it. See, I knew you would be surprised to hear.

Admittedly, there was no American in serious contention but for such a marquee event. I fail to see the normally very “impartial” media being this quiet. It must be the “roids”!

Ask the Spaniard - Alberto Contador, the winner of this year’s Tour de France edition (round of applause) and I am sure he will tell you that there are just as many good reasons to be excited as in previous years. Indeed! You may not now it; but his story is one of triumph and an incredible “second coming”.

How else would you describe a near fatal cycling crash in 2004, a massive blood clot and life saving surgery? That Alberto Contador lived to tell the tale is nothing short of a miracle. To have copped the very prestigious Tour de France trophy just three years after such a horrific accident would have been an impossible dream, deserving of the highest accolades.

Instead, the 2007 moment has come and gone and Mr. Contador’s incredible come back, seemingly just a footnote. As I said, it must be the “roids”… and it’s a shame too, given the cloud over Lance Armstrong’s seven consecutive victories and the disgrace of the 2006 champ – Floyd Landis.

As riders took to the streets of France at the start of the 2007 championship, there was some hope that the Tour would finally come clean. But it was the same old story: More positive returns and a swirl of doping controversies.

Even so, cycling fanatics and sports fans as a whole were still hoping for the best and to the untrained eye, for a while things looked good. With the “guilty” parties seemingly banished, many would have thought, finally – a Tour de France winner as fresh as the daisies.

Unfortunately, no such luck! This you may not also know but Alberto Contador, himself, has allegedly indulged in the stuff…you know, “roids”; and in fact, was banned along with other team members from the 2006 Tour as a consequence. They were cleared only to have new accusations resurface prior to the start of this year’s campaign. This time lady luck shone on him, and he was allowed to compete.

So, the 2007 Tour de France has come and gone and you wouldn’t even know it…a real crying shame. Not even a most compelling story of the champ’s incredible come back apparently can stir normally “impartial” media men from making much of cycling’s top event. It’s definitely the “roids”…no question, the rampant usage of which has robbed cycling and sports (for that matter), of every ounce of credibility.

Even worse, as long as people like Alberto Contador are around, compelling though his second coming may have been, there is no telling when the raucous festivities and unending media crooning of old that was unmistakably the Tour de France will return to cycling’s most beloved event.